But the Morgan three-wheelers are being hotly anticipated by classic car lovers and are likely to be quickly snapped up.

Beamish Morgan Ltd near Stanley, County Durham, will be the first dealership in the UK to launch the modernised Morgan 3-wheeler, which has not been in production since the 1930s.

The announcement was made yesterday as Aston Workshop, which specialises in Aston Martins, joined forces with Macdonald Racing to launch Beamish Morgan Ltd, the only Morgan car dealer in the region.

Beamish Morgan Ltd will operate from premises at Red Row, off a country lane between Sunniside and Stanley.

Bob Fountain, owner of Aston Workshop, said: “We’re delighted to be extending our services by working with Macdonald Racing, another long-established specialist classic car company in the North East, and we’re particularly looking forward to launching the fantastic Morgan three-wheeler. It is an ideal car for men who would otherwise try to recreate their youth by buying high-powered motor bikes which they then all too often fall off.

“By buying a Morgan three-wheeler instead they can give their wives or girlfriends a ride too, they don’t need to wear a crash helmet and they are less likely to crash.

“But they are similar to motor bikes in some ways. You need leathers to protect yourself from the elements. There is no room for luggage on them but that is something we are working to provide from our workshops here.”

Mr Fountain said around 600 new three-wheelers were initially being manufactured but orders had been already submitted for most of the new models.

American TV host and car enthusiast Jay Leno has already publicly endorsed the new three-wheeler after test-driving it at Morgan’s workshop in Malvern, Worcestershire, describing driving at 40 miles per hour as “feeling like you are travelling at 200 miles per hour.”

Macdonald Racing was founded by John Macdonald at Maiden Law, Lanchester, County Durham.

In the early 1960s he worked in engineering and raced a Morgan as a hobby. As a result of his successes, other competitors asked him to tune their cars, and in 1966 he was appointed Morgan dealer by Peter Morgan.

Mr Macdonald said: “I’m so pleased to be launching Beamish Morgan Ltd, which will bring more space and scope to Macdonald Racing. I’ve known Bob for a long time – I was best man at his wedding – and we felt that this was the ideal time to enhance both businesses, especially as the car brands, Aston Martin and Morgan, fit so well together.”